Always Forgotten
by Diamond Chrysanthemum
Summary: It's Shino's birthday, so why is no one shouting "Happy Birthday"? Where are the balloons? Where is the party? Isn't there supposed to be some sort of surprise celebration in his honor? Has everyone truly forgotten? [ShinoKiba]


**Always Forgotten**

_[**Part 1:** Friday, January 23rd]_

The morning felt strange. Shino diverted his attention from the white ceiling to the calendar hanging on the wall. Just as he had thought it was Friday, January 23rd. However, Kiba wasn't bouncing on the bed in an attempt to wake him up as he usually did on Shino's birthday. Kiba didn't even seem to be in the room!

Shino climbed out of his bed carefully, his head whipping from right to left as suspicion rose in his mind. It was impossible to know what the dog boy would do. For all Shino knew, Kiba could have been hiding somewhere around their room, waiting for just the right moment to lunge out and glomp him.

When nothing came as Shino shuffled slowly to the bathroom, his suspicion did not die down, it grew even worse. For the remainder of the morning, the bug collector did everything cautiously and with great paranoia. He felt that if he were to be distracted for even a moment, Kiba would take it as the perfect opportunity to take him by surprise. It wasn't that Shino was scared. Nope, that wasn't the case at all. If Kiba surprised him now it would have been as if the boy won. He would be smug and brag about how he startled the 'impossible to scare' Shino. But the thing that Kiba and everybody else did understand was that Shino did get scared at times; he was nothing, but human after all.

Besides, dealing with an arrogant Kiba was probably the most annoying thing in the world.

As he left his home, Shino frowned. He now realized that he didn't even feel Kiba's chakra in the apartment nor did he feel outside where he stood, locking the front door.

_Perhaps, Kiba is masking his chakra_, Shino thought for just one millisecond, before immediately dismissing the thought. Kiba might have been a good ninja, but he wasn't that amazing.

"Hello, Shino-kun," Hinata greeted in her small voice.

"Hey, Hinata. Do you happen to know where Kiba is?"

"Sorry, but I don't. Maybe he left a note," she suggested. "We could check together, if you'd like." The two friends returned into the small apartment. Their eyes swept any and every surface in order to find some kind of clue to where Kiba had gone.

"Ah! I found it," Hinata cried. Her voice did not actually reach the normal octave of a person who has cried out, but in her case it was considered as such.

The note had been in one of the most obvious places: the kitchen table. But, since Shino, in his paranoia, had decided to skip breakfast, he hadn't gotten a chance to see it.

Shino hurried to her side and read what his moronic boyfriend had to say.

_To: Shino, duh_

_That old lady called me for a mission this morning, so I gotta go! If things work out as planned, I'll be back by tomorrow._

_Kiba, duh_

_P.S: I lopjhefbhdove you_

Hinata giggled. Kiba was really something else. She had a feeling that when Kiba had written the last line his face was most likely glowing red.

Shino sighed.

"Are you okay, Shino-kun?" Hinata looked at Shino with worry in her eyes.

"Yes. I am fine, Hinata. Thank you for searching with me." A small smile graced his lips.

"I'm always here to help," Hinata beamed. "I have to get going, though. I promised Hanabi-chan that I would train with her today. See you tomorrow."

Shino's smile fell as he watched the kunoichi leave his home.

_Has she forgotten as well? _

The young man in the glasses continued on with his daily routine, not allowing this whole 'birthday issue' get to him. He tried to convince himself that it wasn't that important, but it was especially difficult to think that because Kiba, the one who loved him so unconditionally, had forgotten along with everyone else and that stabbed him deep in the heart.

In an attempt to get over the pain, Shino took a visit to his parents. There was no way they could have forgotten. He was their son. He knocked gently on the door and waited for an answer, but none came. And after nearly five minutes of knocking, the neighbor's door swung open.

"They're out, so stop knocking brat," Tsume shouted, glaring at him.

"Sorry if I disturbed you," Shino apologized with a bow.

Tsume grunted and went back into her home, slamming the door in the process.

Shino began towards his favorite collecting spot. On the way he received greetings from his friends, but no one said "Happy Birthday". No one at all. For a while, he began to think that maybe everyone was planning him a surprise party, but that simply not the case. They had all really forgotten.

_Am I really that insignificant?_

The young man kicked his shoes off when he returned home that night. He flopped down on his bed and his eyes closed and his mind drifted into dream world. His night was unpleasant, with reoccurring dreams, or rather nightmares, of his love forgetting of his existence.

* * *

><p><em>Aww! Poor Shino! I love you and I remembered.<em>

_Honestly, I was going to type this up and post it yesterday so that all the dates would correspond, however I had an every growing headache yesterday so I could barely do anything._

_I'll be posting the next part later today or tomorrow! _

_Feel free to favorite and review if you liked this._


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